Faith Fellowship Cookeville Newshttp://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news
ensterl@faithcookeville.orgCopyright 20182018-03-16T01:26:51+00:00I’ve Got a Lot of Crazy Friendshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/V5yMBuvtcwY/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/ive_got_a_lot_of_crazy_friends/#When:00:26:51Z<p>They forgive me of my sins.&nbsp; My crazy friends that is.&nbsp; I’ve known a lot of people over the years.&nbsp; Some hung on, and some fell off, and I have a few observations on familiar relations.</p>
<p>I’d rather be liked than respected.&nbsp; Now, this idea runs counter to that espoused by many- particularly those of the male persuasion.&nbsp; It is even contrary to what I might have said in times past, but it’s the position I hold today.&nbsp; There are good reasons to so believe.</p>
<p>If people like you, they tend to overlook your faults.&nbsp; I have a lot of weaknesses.&nbsp; My friends support me in spite of them.&nbsp; They shake their heads in bemusement as I fumble along and pick me up when I fall.&nbsp; I fall a lot.</p>
<p>Sometimes, respect is grudgingly given.&nbsp; In fact, it may be veiled envy or based in some type of misgiving.&nbsp; Andy said that, if a person carries a gun, the respect he thinks he is given might really be fear.&nbsp; I agree.&nbsp; Since people view respect as earned, the minute you don’t earn it (by any phantom definition), you don’t have it anymore.&nbsp; People often turn on the revered.&nbsp; They are not as likely to turn on those they love.&nbsp; </p>
<p>I want people to like me, and I want to like them back.&nbsp; It’s good if we respect each other, but we will all fail virtue’s test at some point.&nbsp; Then, we fall back on charity.&nbsp; I have needed the support of friends in my life.</p>
<p>My crazy friends are not likely to be fanatics.&nbsp; I’ve associated with some rough dudes in my time.&nbsp; By that, I mean the type people so driven by ideas that they make the logical illogical.&nbsp; Purists often follow good points too far.&nbsp; I count myself among them but have learned wise moderation.&nbsp; Not that I use it all the time.</p>
<p>Purists will say things like “Trifling brings perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”&nbsp; I’ve used that one myself.&nbsp; It is often true that the virgin position is the most correct.&nbsp; It is also unattainable, and the fact that some claim to know the absolute puts them in the place of God.&nbsp; I’ll not make excuse for anyone’s sloppiness, but tenderness should rule in the family of man.</p>
<p>The fallacy of bad morality based on the inability to know full truth will not gain the unconcerned shelter at the Great Reckoning.&nbsp; But my point is not that.&nbsp; Rather, it is that certain people will drive you to distraction if not to the looney bin with their continual redefinition of what is right.&nbsp; Some of these are what we call “good people.”&nbsp; I have found scant comfort among them.&nbsp; When you reach their standard, they change the game.</p>
<p>So much of life is fluid and hard to define let alone get a handle on.&nbsp; And life is like a river.&nbsp; It flows.&nbsp; Our faults will be washed away in the flood if we lean in contrition on the grace of God.&nbsp; We should give one another that option because it’s what we all really want.</p>
<p>Everyone does better with support, and we don’t even have to agree with others to hold them in honor.&nbsp; It took me a good while to learn this.&nbsp; </p>
<p>One day, we will know where the lines are drawn, but that day is not today.&nbsp; All we can do is give our best efforts and ask forgiveness while not excusing our faults.&nbsp; Until perfection comes, I keep on rollin’ with the flow.</p>
<p>Sterl</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/V5yMBuvtcwY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-03-16T00:26:51+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/ive_got_a_lot_of_crazy_friends/#When:00:26:51ZIf I Should Die Before I Wakehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/0m9DOb16Nsk/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/if_i_die_before_i_wake/#When:02:29:16Z<p>Recently, a friend of mine gave an apt description of the relationship between the body and the spirit.&nbsp; She said that, each morning, the physical man rises and the spirit man rises along with him.&nbsp; That is, until one morning, the spirit man rises and the physical man does not.&nbsp; Though I had not heard it termed that way before, the thought chimes with the growing concern of years.</p>
<p>We don’t live forever in the physical sense, but the spirit man, the spirit woman, never ceases to exist after inception.&nbsp; This never-ending story makes us god-like, in a sense, though He is without beginning of days.&nbsp; None of us knows the day physical life will cease, but, after going around the block a few times, we may sense we are dodging bullets.&nbsp; Certain of my personal friends have passed this life. </p>
<p>Many children have learned the formula prayer associated with lying down before sailing off with Winkin, Blinkin and Nod.&nbsp; Such learning tools are valuable and not only for the young.&nbsp; Our skills progress from the rudimentary to the ornate and must begin somewhere.&nbsp; We develop mechanisms in each area of life giving handles to complex issues, and the idea of committing the keeping of our souls to God is best begun early on.&nbsp; </p>
<p>The training of a child, embraced or eschewed, is not forgotten.&nbsp; The sense of mortality taught in gentle ways is not lost on the young.&nbsp; It is when we are in the middle years that we become bullet-proof.&nbsp; In the frenzy of child-raising and clock-watching associated with mid-life, I didn’t give a lot of thought to the passage of time.&nbsp; I knew it was happening (even spoke about it), but it didn’t seem as real as it does today.&nbsp; Now, I know that, one day, the spirit man will rise, and the physical man will not.</p>
<p>I’m fascinated by the things Scripture says happened at night.&nbsp; While I am aware nighttime is half the day (relatively), it’s a part of the process many associate with inactivity.&nbsp; If you’re a night-owl or work third shift, perceptions may differ, but the mass of men are not nocturnal.&nbsp; Yet, we know cognitively that the dark hours are not wastrels though we not experience them in full.&nbsp; Things are growing, hunting and building at night.&nbsp; Biblically, the night is a time when God works.</p>
<p>Once a month or so, I pass a sleepless night.&nbsp; They are coming more frequently as I age.&nbsp; For a time, these were torturous for me.&nbsp; However, a few years ago, I began to anticipate the insomnia.&nbsp; Now, I’d still rather saw ‘em off than watch the shadows on the wall, but I have learned that the God of light is out there in the dark.&nbsp; I read that He called a few folks from slumber to Himself.&nbsp; It’s mostly quiet in my house at night, and you can hear a still, small voice.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much time I’ve got left, and the sense of limitation is growing on me.&nbsp; It causes me to tremble, tremble.&nbsp; My Bible tells me I can commit my soul to the faithful Creator.&nbsp; Sometimes, I wonder which day will be my last or if I will bodily rise in the morning.</p>
<p>If my vessel slips earth bonds some eventide, I pray the Lord my soul to take.</p>
<p>Sterl </p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/0m9DOb16Nsk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-03-09T02:29:16+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/if_i_die_before_i_wake/#When:02:29:16ZWhere is My Badge?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/14w0QRpmiMw/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/where_is_my_badge/#When:02:14:52Z<p>Every person yearns for the sense of belonging.&nbsp; In some, the urge is overwhelming, whereas, others prefer a more solitary life.&nbsp; The need, however, is present to some degree in every individual.</p>
<p>It is easy, and often correct, to term things in reference to choice.&nbsp; While I do not wish or intend to diminish personal selections, I will say that leanings in life are not choices in the same degree for different types of people.&nbsp; Many things in life are related to the personality which has mysterious roots, is a partial product of upbringing and is fallen itself.&nbsp; Understand that the personality determines, to some extent, the ways in which people express their sinful natures.&nbsp; This vaporous part of our being will factor into whether a person is a joiner or a man without a country.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Some are more adaptable to group life than others, but all will need the comfort of the group at some time.&nbsp; Reasons for the requirement range from protection from enemies to warmth of communion, but endemic in our natures is the need to belong somewhere.&nbsp; To have commonality and identity.&nbsp; There is value in rugged individualism and robust collectivism.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p>
<p>Gone are the days of brand loyalty.&nbsp; It is less common today to find people with lengthy employs in the same companies than in days gone by.&nbsp; Relationships are easily broken.&nbsp; Pretty much nothing seems to have the staying power it did.&nbsp; People change identities more readily today and, many times, lack a healthy homing instinct.&nbsp; This can induce feelings of uncertainty.&nbsp; There is a difference between being free and being loose.&nbsp; </p>
<p>It’s hard enough to know where you’d like to belong, the group where you’d see yourself, but the group must want to be seen with you, as well.&nbsp; Group members are not carbon-copies, but there’s no communion without commonality.&nbsp; On the other hand, causes make strange bedfellows.&nbsp; The desire to adhere must be met with willingness, and the pain of rejection has dire consequences.</p>
<p>A person can be forced into alliances not of their choosing.&nbsp; People may be told they should<br />
participate where they’d rather not.&nbsp; Resulting is a forced unity unsatisfactory to all involved.&nbsp; The security of the group may not be felt by all its members.&nbsp; Its comfort becomes constraint for square pegs in the box.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at cabals from both sides now, and have experienced the desire and dread of association.&nbsp; I know what it is to want in and what it is to want out.&nbsp; These days, most of what I want is just to be, and I’d like that being in accordance with others unforced and natural.&nbsp; Over time, the desire to change in order to cohere lessens being replaced by the longing to exist in accord with eternal values in one’s own measure.&nbsp; This is not repudiation of others, rather recognition of self.&nbsp; </p>
<p>I wouldn’t cross the street to be a member of anyone’s group, but I long to belong.&nbsp; Happily, I have found commonality with others in common life.&nbsp; No dues are taken in the fellowships I most enjoy.&nbsp; Rather, there is a sharing of wealth in ordinary things.&nbsp; I find acceptance without storming the citadel among those with whom I share simple pleasures.</p>
<p>Above all associations, I have found acceptance in the Beloved.&nbsp; I belong to Jesus, and Jesus belongs to me.&nbsp; There is mystic, sweet communion among all His followers regardless of temporal distinctions.&nbsp; Our Lord’s is the only moniker that really matters and will for eternity.</p>
<p>Sterl</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/14w0QRpmiMw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-03-02T02:14:52+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/where_is_my_badge/#When:02:14:52ZYou Make Me Feel Like a Natural Pastorhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/oJFNU86Fb4s/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/you_make_me_feel_like_a_natural_pastor/#When:01:46:32Z<p>I am fascinated by the different fields of employ.&nbsp; By that, I mean it intrigues me that people give themselves to life works of which I know little if anything.&nbsp; There are entire industries outside my practical and theoretical knowledge.&nbsp; Why and how did they come to exist, and what motivates people to toil in their environs?&nbsp; I know what motivates me.</p>
<p>There are many different ways and means of living.&nbsp; Therein lays the fascination.&nbsp; If you already know how to do something, it seems easy though others marvel at your skill and sagacity.&nbsp; I once heard Hall of Famer, Bill Russell, say that dunking a basketball was no big deal.&nbsp; Well, it is to the rest of us!&nbsp; What is mundane just might depend on who you ask.</p>
<p>In the misunderstanding of career choices, people will disparage others by saying things like, “You don’t know what it’s like to work a real job.”&nbsp; Comments such as these are thrown at those who have flexible schedules, are self-employed or work outside the mainstream.&nbsp; I know.&nbsp; I’ve been one of them almost my entire working life.&nbsp; As a part of the perceived minority, let me say that a “real job” is anything (legitimate) you get paid to do and is not subject to over-analysis.&nbsp; Because we do not comprehend complex issues does not mean they are not valid.</p>
<p>One of the things about working an amoebic schedule is that you never know what you’re going to get.&nbsp; It’s hard to know when you will have down time or whether you will have time off at all.&nbsp; Often, when others are busy, you will be less so and the other way around.&nbsp; There will be many occasions to yearn for a job description.</p>
<p>The pastoral life offers unique, rewarding and frustrating perspectives.&nbsp; While a part of the self-employed set, even the IRS recognizes that we sorta are and sorta aren’t.&nbsp; If that’s confusing to you, try living it.&nbsp; You’re neither up nor down.&nbsp; While most enter the murky waters of financial self-reliance for greater remuneration, many pastors consider this aspect as an afterthought being driven by different forces.</p>
<p>Much church work doesn’t seem church-related.&nbsp; Like a lot of things in life, the decision to enter the field brings with it a host of issues and incidents.&nbsp; It can be discouraging to realize that what you signed up for is not what you signed up for.&nbsp; Those called by God to enter ministry love spiritual work but find that much of their actual work is decidedly unspiritual.&nbsp; Talk about a punch in the gut.</p>
<p>In a fallen world, even spiritual pursuits are tainted.&nbsp; The “down and dirty” aspect of lofty pursuits can make us question even the underpinnings of heavenly concerns.&nbsp; One disillusioned striver penned a book entitled Don’t Call Me Brother.&nbsp; As ever, our great enemy uses hurts to halt the toiler on his spiritual quest.</p>
<p>Focusing on faults is not fair.&nbsp; There are great blessings to be found as we imperfectly follow the heavenly road.&nbsp; One is the smile of God on the life.&nbsp; Nothing is as invigorating as involvement in a cause of eternal worth though bought with temporal pain.&nbsp; Being confident in the call and placement of the Almighty is the meaning of life whether or not one is a professional member of the clergy.&nbsp; Many times, after hours or days of disappointment, I have laid down in the arms of the Most High.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </p>
<p>From the human standpoint, I am thankful for the times I’ve been able to be personally involved in the lives of others.&nbsp; It’s easy to look at the hurtful and forget the holy.</p>
<p>It has been a privilege to life this life.&nbsp; Many people over the years have allowed me to be part of their lives as a minister of the gospel.&nbsp; They have accepted me for what I have been gifted to give even as we are all accepted in the Beloved.&nbsp; You’re the key to my peace of mind.</p>
<p>Sterl</p>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/oJFNU86Fb4s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-02-23T01:46:32+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/you_make_me_feel_like_a_natural_pastor/#When:01:46:32ZThe Class of ‘57http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/dN3oJTXRgmA/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/the_class_of_57/#When:02:06:39Z<p>I love to dream.&nbsp; It has been easy for me to get caught up in my imaginings and make of them more than I should.&nbsp; And it is possible to hold onto a dream too long.&nbsp; Kipling said we should dream without making them our masters.&nbsp; Good point.&nbsp; There is a time to hold on and a time to let go.&nbsp; Something like that is in the Bible.</p>
<p>We all think we have more potential to change the world than is reasonable.&nbsp; This is mostly true though certain individuals have made singular marks on history.&nbsp; Even in those rare cases, however, the doers were not islands.&nbsp; Change is achieved incrementally over time, and true visionaries are in the vast minority.&nbsp; This does not mean there are not thinkers who make valuable contributions in various ways only that seminal advances are like lightning strikes.&nbsp; At the same time, it is true that valiant deeds are often unpraised if not completely unknown.</p>
<p>Having said most of us make small contributions on life’s continuum, the weight of one life’s input can be substantial.&nbsp; Not many of us will have a fortune at any one time, but, in your lifetime, a fortune will pass through your hands.&nbsp; The same analogy holds true of your achievements.&nbsp; While, viewed from some perspectives, it’s easy to discount worth, from other vantages, you’ve had a wonderful life.&nbsp; You are probably more important than you deem.</p>
<p>It is beyond me to understand successes and failures in this life.&nbsp; There are no guarantees in anything.&nbsp; The best people you know will fall to personal weaknesses and the treacheries of others.&nbsp; Contrariwise, dastardly deeds may go unrequited or be honored more than the righteous.&nbsp; We want to teach that effort and quality matter but see instances in which these avail nothing.&nbsp; In the end, we must realize we live in a cursed world, and nothing ultimately escapes the eye of the God who will balance all accounts one day.</p>
<p>Maybe, we thought the world would change to fit our needs.&nbsp; Few of us reckoned with the adaptations of living or the irrevocability of certain choices at least in meaningful senses, if by that one means ways that really mattered.&nbsp; The world, however, does not adapt to the individual, and heartbreaking consequences do not pause the unforgiving minute.&nbsp; The iron gate of reality distinguishes true options for the stargazer.&nbsp; We all want to change the world, but I’d love to see the plan.</p>
<p>Our great works and deeds may seem to have little effect in the grand scheme.&nbsp; This is not due to flagging zeal or lack of effort.&nbsp; Again, it’s hard to understand why things work out the ways they do.&nbsp; It’s just that things get complicated.&nbsp; There is much more involved in living, successes and failures than good ideas and intentions.&nbsp; This fact is better known by the spent than those revving their engines.</p>
<p>Though often disappointed, dreamers are indispensable.&nbsp; To be fair, one cannot spend a lifetime in fantasy without functionality, but true dreamers are not idle visionaries.&nbsp; They are action-oriented though their efforts break their hearts and the hearts of those who love them.&nbsp; Dreamers will burn their candles at both ends, not for the sake of exhaustion but of illumination.&nbsp; Often, they will not see the accomplishments of their foresight.&nbsp; </p>
<p>It can be hard to differentiate personal desires from God-given directives.&nbsp; Nothing is wrong with either as each may be found in the way of righteousness, and there may be some overlap.&nbsp; To be a blessing is the poetry of living, and those who would make their lives more satisfying to home and heaven will find their places in the will of God.&nbsp; The old and young will find dreams and visions in the pursuit of heavens’ plan.</p>
<p>Sterl </p>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/dN3oJTXRgmA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-02-16T02:06:39+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/the_class_of_57/#When:02:06:39ZI’ll Stand by Youhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/SsmfZUDoyVw/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/ill_stand_by_you/#When:01:09:48Z<p>My friends are my friends.&nbsp; Right or wrong, my friends are my friends.&nbsp; And I stand by my friends.&nbsp; It’s not that I always agree with them.&nbsp; Lockstep does not friendship make, and it is not a requirement to be a friend of mine.&nbsp; I am not ashamed to make these bold statements, and I’m not taking them back.&nbsp; While I don’t agree with everything my friends do, neither do I agree with everything I do.&nbsp; I offer my friends what I hope they will offer me, and that is support in times of need and encouragement in a disheartening world.</p>
<p>See, friendship is misunderstood and misapplied in today’s world.&nbsp; A friend is not one sharing the same entertainment tastes or hobbies.&nbsp; It is not even someone you like.&nbsp; Though these things may seem integral to friendship and are certainly important, they do little to define the fraternal bond in a substantive way.&nbsp; While it is common for Christian people to say, “I like (even love) everyone,” that doesn’t lay the foundation stones for friendship (even if it were true).&nbsp; Friendship is more than commonality and romanticism.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Friendships develop over time from innocuous beginnings.&nbsp; At some point, they are intentional.&nbsp; Normally, people find themselves thrust together in circumstances not of their choosing.&nbsp; For instance, schoolmates may become lifelong friends yet meet in a classroom unselected by either.&nbsp; People will form valuable connections through churches (partly volitional) though the relationships were not clearly seen at the outset.&nbsp; We are placed in necessary situations and find needed friendships.</p>
<p>I said friendships are not based on superficialities.&nbsp; In your life, you will find that supposed friends slough off.&nbsp; Whatever the reason, life intervenes and connections are lost.&nbsp; It is immaterial whose fault it is- it happens.&nbsp; This does not mean these bonds were not types of friendships, but it does mean all friendships are not of the same order.&nbsp; Deep friendships don’t fall away.&nbsp; They maintain over years and miles and do not necessarily involve continual contact.</p>
<p>Friendships are not surface relationships and can be painful.&nbsp; The nature of friendship, however, is to be hardy and resilient.&nbsp; Not all friendly relations are such, but you can’t make a racehorse out of a mule.&nbsp; There is no single tool for building though some are more useful than others.&nbsp; You will find the analogy true when considering you compatriots.&nbsp; Some are handy while others are not.&nbsp; Then, again, none of us are able to carry all burdens.&nbsp; We have a Savior for that.</p>
<p>Make no mistake.&nbsp; Your friends are the people who stand by you.&nbsp; I bought this valuable lesson with pain through honest observation and heartbreaking experience.&nbsp; While I do not wish to be unfair, it is simply true that friends in name only will not be friends in deed in trying times.&nbsp; There may be many justifications for comrades not stepping up to the plate when chips are down and not all of them are unreasonable.&nbsp; However, the absence of support in difficulty cannot take into account those who do not have time to be involved, and their silence is deafening.</p>
<p>A few Bible passages address friendship, its depth and the pain of its loss.&nbsp; We should not take friendship lightly.&nbsp; One day, each of us will need a friend.&nbsp; And there is a spiritual component to the human bond.&nbsp; Scripture urges us not to forsake our friends or those connected with and supportive of our families.&nbsp; In your days, I hope you will find a Jonathan to your David.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p>
<p>I’ll stand by you, my friend.&nbsp; I’ve been on many hopeless missions, and I’m not afraid to watch the dark night fall.&nbsp; In your darkest hour, I’ll not desert you.&nbsp; No one will hurt you, if I can do anything about it.&nbsp; I’ve stood by friends to bitter ends and watched foes burn long-built edifices.&nbsp; If I can protect you, I will, and I will not leave you in times of despair.</p>
<p>My friends can trust me.&nbsp; I hope you will discover and develop reliable friendships, and I hope your friends will rest in you.</p>
<p>Sterl </p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/SsmfZUDoyVw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-02-09T01:09:48+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/ill_stand_by_you/#When:01:09:48ZI’m Going with Some Hesitationhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/oly2mKvXUPg/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/im_going_with_some_hesitation/#When:01:56:27Z<p>“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…”&nbsp; Been there.&nbsp; Most of the time, however, it’s been more like a maze.&nbsp; I’ve often felt kinship to Tom Hanks at the end of <i>Castaway</i> standing at the crossroads trying to decide what to do.&nbsp; Decisions are easy to make if you’re making them for someone else.&nbsp; It’s different when it’s personal.</p>
<p>It’s hard to have options.&nbsp; It can be easier to follow the well-trodden path of expectations than to choose between the lady and the tiger.&nbsp; Often, there is no clear path though there may be indicators of firm footing.&nbsp; We cannot eliminate risk from life, but Monday morning prognosticators will not take this truth into account in their assessments of your game-day performance.&nbsp; And we cannot escape choices.&nbsp; We are doomed to choose.&nbsp; You’re not a winner, and you’re not a loser.&nbsp; You’re a chooser.&nbsp; </p>
<p>I’ve known the joy of the new venture.&nbsp; It’s exciting to strike out on a quest with uncertain ends.&nbsp; And there are the endless possibilities of new things.&nbsp; More than once, however, I have surveyed the charred ruins of shattered dreams that once seemed full of promise.&nbsp; New horizons offer no guarantees and few condolences.&nbsp; While it’s thrilling to feel the wind on your hair, it messes up your hair.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, the safe choice is not safe at all.&nbsp; And I’m not so sure about the sure thing.&nbsp; We can make decisions seemingly based on likelihood which turn out no better than if we’d rolled the dice.&nbsp; There’s a ditch on either side of the road, and we are ever deliberating between freedom and constraint.&nbsp; What’s the up or downside, and which path would wisdom choose?&nbsp; It’s not always best to hold your cards though exchanges should be made with care.</p>
<p>Scripture tells us that acknowledging God will allow Him to guide our steps.&nbsp; Believers will seek God’s will (some more and some less) as they administrate their lives.&nbsp; Parts of the Christ-followers earthy responsibilities are to pursue God’s desires, hear His voice and follow His direction.&nbsp; It is comfort to the faithful to know God is leading them and knows the end from the beginning when they do not.&nbsp; Still, following God’s leading is easier said than done, and the ambition to do so does not insure correct application.</p>
<p>It is no easy matter to divine the will of the God whose ways are past finding out.&nbsp; Believers have struggled with the practice for thousands of years.&nbsp; God is not at fault for our misunderstandings as the sinful nature inhibits our best efforts.</p>
<p>Some seem to never be able to settle on the course God has chosen for them.&nbsp; They loudly proclaim their visions which mostly seem of short duration, and then God is off again in a different direction.&nbsp; While it is not impossible that God’s will change, one wonders how clearly the oracles of God actually appear to such.&nbsp; God does not work by fiat, and it is possible to get natural inclination confused with divine revelation.</p>
<p>A few will confidently express their desire for divine direction by saying such things as, “I pray for God to direct me which way to drive to work.”&nbsp; Normally, these assertions are followed by stirring examples of their finding legitimate needs or supplies on their ways to the office.&nbsp; I don’t do that.&nbsp; And I have helped people on my way to and from work.&nbsp; I don’t mind you saying that if you don’t mind me taking a different approach.</p>
<p>I believe sincere Christians struggle to find the will of God.&nbsp; It’s not that His will is not sometimes apparent, but we see through a glass darkly.&nbsp; A college professor of mine once said, “Some people are so sincere- they hurt.”&nbsp; I know the pains of trial and loss but do not believe God’s direction is only bought through tears.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Samuel told Saul that he could apply his efforts to tasks before him because God was with him.&nbsp; I tend to take this angle as prescriptive for the believer.&nbsp; If a person is convinced that they are right with God and has confidence He is leading them, they can navigate their lives without turmoil and in full assurance.&nbsp; This does not mean they do not doubt at times only that they walk in comfort and security.&nbsp; If they make a wrong turn, the God who leads them will lovingly correct them.&nbsp; Maintaining the relationship with the Father is key and not hand-wringing over making a faulty step.</p>
<p>Years ago, I came across the line, “Often on the rock I tremble, faint of heart and weak of knee, but the steadfast Rock of Ages never trembles under me.”&nbsp; I know what it’s like to fear the nightfall and stumble in the dark, but I also know what it’s like to hear the voice behind.</p>
<p>God wants to guide and will lead if we allow Him and does not intend us to limp throughout our days as if His directions for our lives are puzzles few can solve.</p>
<p>Sterl </p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/oly2mKvXUPg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-02-02T01:56:27+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/im_going_with_some_hesitation/#When:01:56:27ZGive Me Just a Little More Timehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/X-km199oApo/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/give_me_just_a_little_more_time/#When:11:59:09Z<p>I’m not a patient person.&nbsp; While I hate to admit it, an honest confession is good for the soul.&nbsp; It’s not easy for me to give myself a break, but there may be many reasons this is so with some more volitional than others.</p>
<p>I’ve never felt I had enough time.&nbsp; A sense of urgency has compelled me throughout my lifetime and kept me tapping my foot.&nbsp; I am aware that we may feel time slipping away in too acute fashion, yet many while away hours that could have been spent productively.&nbsp; I’m not even saying I’m the best cracker of corn only that I know there is work to be done, and we are late.</p>
<p>The Bible comes in handy on this point.&nbsp; We should be cautioned against using Holy Writ as a support for unholy purposes and presuppositions, but the Word does say quite a bit about making good use of time.&nbsp; Those inclined to load a gun with those bullets will not lack ammunition.&nbsp; However, none of us has maximized time in the ultimate sense.&nbsp; The understanding should make us more gracious and more repentant.</p>
<p>Ironically, it is precisely clock-watchers that may be the worst procrastinators.&nbsp; Though it seems counter-intuitive, it can be that sands through the hourglass paralyze performance.&nbsp; This odd twist can actually be seen in various guises.&nbsp; In my case, I’ve always been able to work fast, and this has encouraged the hare in me rather than the tortoise.&nbsp; Many times, I started too late to perform to my potential if adequately at all.&nbsp; </p>
<p>A rueful glance over the shoulder reveals that there is no complete redress to things that are past.&nbsp; We can’t relive time.&nbsp; It is the great leveler in that we each have the same amount in any given period, and it stops for no one.&nbsp; Days beyond recall haunt my sleep and launch the arrows of regret.&nbsp; I could have done better and even thought I was.</p>
<p>We are likely to approximate the Corleone family in needing more time to make our affairs legitimate.&nbsp; The thing about anything free is that you run out of it.&nbsp; Perhaps, this is the reason we squander time.&nbsp; It is just there and easy to take for granted.&nbsp; The aged shake their heads in dismay at misspent youth as the realization of ultimate value comes too late.</p>
<p>Eternity’s view reveals human existence as a misty mirage dissipating in the morning sun.&nbsp; And<br />
when our lives are gone, things will continue much as if we never were.&nbsp; The rich man was wise in human concerns but foolish in the eyes of God for this very reason.&nbsp; He did not realize the things of this life were not ultimately his or that time was running out.</p>
<p>Each of us is closer to the end than ever before, and we never know when that end will come.&nbsp; The wise among us will apply hearts to wisdom realizing the frailty of the race.&nbsp; Only God can teach us to use the time that we have for benefit and betterment in the truest sense.</p>
<p>Sterl</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/X-km199oApo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-01-26T11:59:09+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/give_me_just_a_little_more_time/#When:11:59:09ZI’m Gonna Live Forever if I so Desirehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/f-ruBZMJauE/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/im_gonna_live_forever_if_i_so_desire/#When:01:43:23Z<p>In my youth, each day held endless possibilities.&nbsp; There was more time then with every sunrise to sunset a plump blueberry in my childish eyes.&nbsp; Living was joy and not assumed to be more than carefree.&nbsp; Even then, however, I had a sense that life was more than time spent in its own pursuit.<br />
While still a novice, I was serious-minded.&nbsp; </p>
<p>It defies us to know why people are the ways they are.&nbsp; Many things are related to genetic makeup which affects and enters into our choices.&nbsp; While this is no excuse for bad behavior, it is a partial explanation regarding manifest characteristics.&nbsp; In my case, serious thoughts came through training and observation.</p>
<p>I was raised in church and never considered it anything other than a privilege.&nbsp; To be honest, I didn’t then identify with many youths who set the practice aside and find no commonality with adults who disregard God’s house today.&nbsp; One can dishonor God’s house by lack of attendance or ineffective attendance.&nbsp; The Words of God are truth and life.&nbsp; I have believed this from a child.&nbsp; It was through this institution (in consort with my family) that I came to view earthly life in eternal context.</p>
<p>The Bible teaches that we are everlasting from conception forward.&nbsp; In other words, we never die in the sense of ceasing to exist.&nbsp; We move from the earthly, mortal plane to one of eternal body and spirit in paradise or perdition.&nbsp; While we are not god-like in the sense of beginning, we are akin to Deity in the sense of a frameless future.&nbsp; I understood this in grade school.&nbsp; Eternal life or eternal death lies ahead for us all.</p>
<p>Our little lives are parts of something bigger.&nbsp; Some come to this realization sooner and some later, but everyone gets there eventually.&nbsp; Certain will say that the “bigger something” is the social contract or being an asset to the planet, but the Christian, while not denying these obvious truths, will see their lives as pieces in the greater plan of God for the ages.&nbsp; A part of that plan is God’s desire that each person come to know Jesus as Savior and have eternal life beyond their earthly days.</p>
<p>Into the plan of God enters the will of man.&nbsp; A topic of theological import and irritation, how it is that God’s choice melds with the free, moral agency of humans will never be settled this side of forever.&nbsp; In any case, the longing of God to redeem must join the kindled heart of a penitent for there to be salvation.&nbsp; However put, desires meet and transform the individual making the new believer a child of God on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice.</p>
<p>I do not completely understand how it was that the grace of God came into my heart accompanied by the desires to be His own, escape hell and inherit heaven when I was but seven years old.&nbsp; In truth, I only know that these thoughts joined in my mind and were grasped by childish faith on a Sunday morning in Jacksonville, FL as I listened to my father preach the Word.&nbsp; It was real then, and it is real today.</p>
<p>Without settling the intellectual aspects of divine and human determination, I read in the Bible that I may drink of everlasting waters if I will, and I come.&nbsp; God wants me to be His own, and His will rings in my heart joining mine.&nbsp; I can live forever if I desire.&nbsp; And I do.</p>
<p>Sterl </p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/f-ruBZMJauE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-01-19T01:43:23+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/im_gonna_live_forever_if_i_so_desire/#When:01:43:23ZThe Enemy of the Goodhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/faithcookeville/~3/OFkJXwjjnvI/
http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/the_enemy_of_the_good/#When:00:41:50Z<p>I’m a serious practitioner.&nbsp; Some would say I’m a perfectionist.&nbsp; Now, that application can be good, and it can be bad.&nbsp; Largely in the eyes of beholders, onlookers will view strivings for absolutism as overbearing whereas the concerned will see it as the way things ought to be.&nbsp; Both viewpoints prove true with exceptions.&nbsp; Even those with perfectionist tendencies, however, do not extend these traits into every area of endeavor.</p>
<p>It’s hard to make a rule with no room for variance.&nbsp; As a believer in absolutes, there can be some difficulty in discerning between the immutable and the mobile.&nbsp; Certain truth is of fixed nature and some of principle which requires application.&nbsp; In addition, all truth is God’s truth (ask the Reformers about that), but all truth is not of the same order.&nbsp; It may be a life-quest to find the sacred ground.&nbsp; Moses stumbled on it, but, if you get to holy ground, you will need to plan. Human efforts at achieving heavenly goals often disappoint.</p>
<p>At times, we are faced with opposing truths.&nbsp; Such dilemmas do not exist in the mind of God, but those of us with lesser intellect struggle to know when, how or if to give.&nbsp; As even our best human efforts are tainted, it follows that strivings at righteousness are, likewise, filthy rags.&nbsp; We have mental, emotional and spiritual failings as we attempt to apply God’s standards to ourselves and the world in which we live and follow imperfectly the path laid before our feet.</p>
<p>Truth is at once clear and confusing, aspirational and unattainable.&nbsp; While a life not attempting the ultimate good is unsatisfactory, it is also true that no one ever gets it quite right.&nbsp; In the golfing movie, <i>Tin Cup</i>, Kevin Costner&#8217;s character said, “Perfection is unattainable.”&nbsp; Christ-followers keep this in mind as they live in repentant modes while doing the best they can.&nbsp; With this in mind, we face daunting challenges.</p>
<p>So it is we learn to live with less than the best.&nbsp; This is both grief and the object of grace.&nbsp; It is difficult to accept lesser than desired in yourself and not seem to defend deficiencies.&nbsp; However, it is necessary.&nbsp; A politician once remarked to another regarding a candidate, “But he’s not the best.”&nbsp; His fellow replied, “When have we ever elected the best?”&nbsp; Likewise, giving an effort is better than none expended if the ultimate goal is not reached.</p>
<p>There is frustration in dreaming the impossible dream, but it is true that our goals must often exceed our grasp to be worth the striving.&nbsp; It is difficult to accept gains which fail of the prize, but we all learn to do just that in many areas.&nbsp; Self-criticism (and other types) can go to the extreme if care is not exercised.&nbsp; The plateaus we reach do not lack value because there are mountains beyond.&nbsp; The good we achieve should not be viewed as failure though its inadequacies be undeniable in light of perfection.&nbsp; We must learn to be satisfied with doing our best, or we become enemies to ourselves.</p>
<p>Sterl</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/faithcookeville/~4/OFkJXwjjnvI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>2018-01-12T00:41:50+00:00http://faithcookeville.org/news_and_events/news/the_enemy_of_the_good/#When:00:41:50Z